Ice-harvesting machine.



S. M. GAMPBELL.

IOE HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 1211.24, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETS-$111121 1.

I muulullunnnululllllll COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINOTON, D. c.

S. M. CAMPBELL. ICE HARVESTING MACHINE. AYPLIOATION FILED APR. 24, 1911.

1,028,992, Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0, WASHINGTON. D. c.

SAMUEL'M. CAMPBELL, or nocK ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

ICE-HARVESTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedJune 11,1912.

Application filed April 24, 1911. Serial No. 622,985.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. CAMP- BELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rock Island, State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ice-Harvesting Machines, of which the fol-. lowing is a full, clear, concise, and exact de. scription, reference being had to the 3000111; panying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention pertains to ice harvesters, and especially relates to ice harvesters of the class in which the machine includes, a truck frame mounted on runners and having spurred propulsion wheels, rotary ice-cutting means mounted on the traction frame so as to be capable of vertical adjustment into and out of cutting relation with the ice, and a motor for supplying power to the propulsion wheels and the ice-cutting means.

It is the object of my invention to improve upon machines of the above character by simplifying the construction, and rendering the machine more efiiclent and convenient in operation than has hitherto been the case.

An 1ce harvester constructed in accordance with my invention is described, by

way of example, in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that. the machlne described and shown is one em- 1 bodiment only of my invention; and that changes may be made in the machine with vation of the ice harvester, showing, in full lines, the saw frame raised,'and, in dotted lines, the saw frame lowered; Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of the runners, with its adjustable guide plate; Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the runner shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a detached view of the separable saw-supporting spindle; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional front view showing the manner of supporting the runner-carrying axles, etc.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, -1O designates the truck frame, which has mounted thereon a motor 11. r The motor is indicated as being of the ordinary automobile type; but it may be of any kind found to be suited for the class of work in which it is to be used. Mounted toward the rear end of the truck framelO is an axle 12, which carries at its ends the propulsion wheels 13.

The propulsion wheels derive power, by

means of chains 14:, from a spindle 15, which is driven, through suitable transmission mechanism of the ordinary character, by the motor 11.

The truck frame 10 is provided, at its front end, with a pair of vertically extending spindles 16, carrying, at their lower ends, stud axles 17. The stud axles 17 are adapted to receive the runners 18,- which support the front end of the truck frame. These runners may be removed, when it is desired to take the machine ofl the ice, and replacedby wheels 19 (indicated by dotted lines Fig. 1) and when this has been done the machine maybe driven .on land as an ordinary self-propelled vehicle. The spindles 16 are provided, at their upper ends, with arms 20, which are connected by a link bar 20*; so that the spindles, and therefore the runners (or wheels, as the case may be), move'in unison. One of the arms 20 has an arm 20 rigidly connected to it so as to form a bell crank lever and the arm 20 is connected, by means of a long link 21, with a vertically extending lever 22, which is carried by a shaft 23 located at the rear end of the machine, adjacent the motor controlling devices. The shaft 23 is provided with a worm wheel which cooperates with a Worm carried by the shaft of a steering wheel 24, the result of the construction being that a turning of the steering wheel in either direction effects a rocking of the shaft 23, and consequently of the lever 22. The rocking of the lever 22 is transmitted, by

the link 21, to the arms 20 and the stud be placed over one of the stud axles 17 and secured in place by means of a collar or the like. Extending from the rear end of the beam 18 is a pillar 18, which rests upon a curved runner shoe 18 the front end of which is secured to the front end of the beam 18*. In order to give rigidity to the runner, stays 18 are connected between it and the top end of the pillar 18. Braces 18 are secured. to the beam 18 on either side of the pillar 18 and are attached to the runner shoe 18 by means of a bolt 18 The side braces l8 aid in giving rigidity to the runner, and are also useful in correcting any sidewise distortion of the same. Such distortion, if it should occur, can be corrected by manipulating the nuts on the upper ends of the braces 18 Each runner is provided with a guide plate 25, which is adapted to enter the slot made in the previous run of the machine, and thereby hold the machine in its proper line of travel. The guide plate is pivoted to the rear end of the runner shoe 18 and has, at its front end, a slotand pin connection with the runner shoe. A rod 25 is connected to the guide plate 25 and extends upward through the beam 18 of the runner, a compression spring 25' being inserted between the beam 18 and a suitable collar on the rod 25 It will be seen that the spring 25 tends to hold the guide plate below the level of the lower face of the shoe 18; however, when the machine is moving over flat ice, the weight of the machine will move the guide plate upward, against the action of the spring 25*. When the machine is brought into position with the guide plate on onevside of the machine above a cut in the ice, the spring 25 will force the guide plate down into the slot. The front end of the guide plate is curved, so that the plate mayv ride up onto the top surface of the ice when the end of the cut is reached.

Pivoted to the truck frame, at the rear end thereof, is a saw supporting frame comprising two longitudinal bars 26, connected at their front ends by a transverse bar 26 In suitable bearings carried by the bars 26, toward the front end of the saw frame, is a saw shaft 2727 carrying at one end a chain wheel which, through a chain 27", re-' ceives power from a shaft 28 driven by the motor 11. The pivots of the saw frame are coaxial with the shaft 28, so that the'rocking of the saw frame about the pivots will not interfere with the driving of the saw shaft. A link 27 extends upward from the saw frame, and is connected at its upper end to one arm of a bell crank lever 27 which is pivoted upon the'frame 10. The other arm of the bell crank lever is connected, by means of a link 27 with a hand lever 27, which is rockably mounted upon the shaft 23 at the rear end of the truck frame. The lever 27 f moves over a notched quadrant 27 so that the lever can be locked in any one of a number of positions. In Fig. 1, in full lines, the lever 27 is shown in its rearmost position in which it maintains the saw frame in its uppermost position. By moving the lever forward,the saw frame may be caused to drop into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1; that is, into the position for effecting the cutting operation. The saw frame may be lowered to any desired extent and locked in any deslred position, by means of the notched quadrant 27 The saw shaft is made in two portions 27 and 27 of which the portion 27 is formed with an enlarged end 27 having a central boss 27*, over which the saw 29 may be placed. The enlarged end of the portion 27 is formed with a central conical cavity 27 the inner end of which is screw threaded to receive the threaded end 27 of the shaft portion 27. The shaft portion 27 is formed with a cone-shaped portion 27, which accurately fits the conical cavity 27 of the portion 27 Beyond the conical portion 27 the shaft portion 27 is screw threaded to receive a collar 27 which is clamped against the saw 29 by means of a nut 27 It will be seen that this construction enables the saw to be removed from the saw shaft, and replaced by another, without withdrawing the saw shaft from its. bearings. In order to effect this, the nut 27 which acts as a lock nut, is first loosened, and the shaft portion 27 is then rotated relatively to the shaft portion 27 until the nut 27 of the latter is released from the threads of the shaft portion 27 When this has occurred, the portion 27 may be moved longitudinally away from the portion 27, and the saw taken off. In replacing the saw, the above operations are reversed.

A platform 30 is provided at the rear end IOU of the truck frame 10. The operator of the machine stands upon thisplatform and is thus in a position to operate the steering wheel 24, the saw shifting lever 27 and the various driving levers of the motor.

In the use of the machine, the wheels, indicated at 19, are placed upon the stud axles 17, whereupon the machine may be driven along the roads until the sheet of ice from which the ice is to be harvested is reached. As soon as the machine is upon the ice, the wheels 19 are removed, and the runners 18 are placed upon the stud axles 17 in their stead. A straight out of the required length is then made by hand in the ice. hen this has been done, the machine is driven up to the end of this cut, and into such a position that the guide plate 25 upon one of the runners will be forced downward by its spring into the cut. The saw shifting lever 27 is then thrown forward to an extent sufficient to cause the saw frame to fall far enough to give the required depth of cut. The machine is then driven along beside the out which was made by hand, the guide plate 25 holding the machine parallel with this cut. The-effect is that asecond cut is made parallel with the first cut, and spaced away to the distance between the saw 29 and the guide plate 25. When the end of the cut is reached, the lever 27 is drawn back to raise the saw frame, and the machine is turned around and brought back into position, with the guide plate 25 of the lever on the opposite side of the machine engaging in the saw cut which has just been made. The saw frame is then lowered and another cut produced as before.

It will be seen that parallelism of the saw cuts is definitely insured by the guide plates 25, which guide plates, in use, need no attention, other than the careful driving of the machine so as to bring them into alinement with the saw cuts in the first instance. By constructing the machine so that the front levers may be replaced by wheels, I obviate the difliculties which have previously been experienced in transporting the machine to the place where it is to be 'used. The construction of the machine is simple and durable; and there are no parts which are liable to get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An ice harvesting machine comprising a truck frame, means for propelling said truck frame, a power operated ice cutting device carried by said truck frame, runners for'said truck frame, and guide plates pivotally connected with the rear end of said runners and having their front ends free to move vertically so as to be capable of entering a cut in the ice, whereby said guide plates guide the machine in making a second cut.

2. An ice harvesting machine comprising a truck frame, means for propelling said truck frame, a power operated ice cutting device carried by said truck frame, runners for said truck frame, and spring pressed guide plates pivotally connected with said runners so as to be capable of entering a cut in the ice, whereby said guide plates guide the machine in making a second cut.

3. A runner for an ice harvesting machine comprising a curved runner shoe, a guide plate pivoted at the rear end of said shoe and lying parallel therewith, and a resilient device tending to force said guide plate below the level of the lower surface of said shoe.

4. A runner for an ice harvesting machine comprising a curved runner shoe, a guide plate lying beside said shoe and pivoted to the rear end thereof, said guide plate having a slot and pin connection with said shoe adjacent its front end, and a spring tending to force said guide plate below the level of the lower surface of said shoe.

5. An ice harvesting machine comprising a truck frame, means for propelling said truck frame, a power-operated ice cutting device carried by said truck frame, runners for said truck frame, and guide plates having one end thereof freely movable so as to bev capable of entering a cut in the ice, whereby said guide plates guide the machine in making a second cut.

6. A runner for an ice harvesting machine comprising a curved runner shoe, and a guide plate pivoted at the rear end of said shoe and lying parallel therewith, freely movable vertically at its front end, whereby said guide plate may drop below the surface of the runner and enter a cut in the ice.

7. A runner for an ice harvesting machine, comprising a curved runner shoe, and a guide plate pivoted at the rear end of said shoe and having its lower surface at the rear end above the surface of the shoe and freely movable vertically at its front end, whereby the front end may drop below the surface of the shoe and enter a cut in the ice, said guide plate being curved on its front end.

8. A runner for an ice harvesting machine, comprising a curved runner shoe, and a guide plate lying beside said shoe and pivoted to the rear end thereof, said guide plate having a slot and pin connection with said shoe adjacent its front end topermit the front end of the guide plate to move vertically.

9. An ice harvesting machine comprising a truck frame, propelling wheels on the rear of said truck frame, a power-operated ice cutting device carried by said truck frame, runners for the front end of said truck frame horizontally pivoted on axles, and guide plates for said runners pivoted at the rear end of the runners and having the front end vertically movable to permit said guide plates to be moved below the surface of the runners and into a cut in the ice.

10. An ice harvesting machine comprising a truck frame, means comprising traction wheels mounted on the rear of said truck frame for propelling the same, a poweroperated ice cutting device carried by said truck frame, runners for said truck frame vertically and horizontally pivoted thereto, and guide plates pivoted to the rear end of said runners and having their front end vertically movable to permit the front ends thereof to be moved below the surface of the runners and into a cut inthe ice, said guide plates being curved on their front ends.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL M. CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. CAMPBELL,

Wu. H. WATERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 'G. i 

